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Aims
and Aspirations of Shanghai
Introductory Remarks
In many respects Shanghai is an untypical Chinese city. During
the long course of Chinese history it was never chosen as a capital
though it had received township-rank already in the 13th century.
The proximity to the more important city of Nanjing kept Shanghai
from becoming an important place itself. This changed in the mid-19th
century, among other things also due to the fact that the city
was opened to foreign commerce with the treaty of Nanjing in 1842.
The end of the Qing dynasty in 1911 finally brought an opening
which assured sustained economic development. The following description
of the city in 1928 by the foreign historian F.L. Hawks Pott in
his "A Short History of Shanghai" (p. 1) is an accurate account
of the development the city had gone through by that time:
"Shanghai is a very cosmopolitan place, a meeting-ground for people
from all countries, a great and unique city, one of the most remarkable
in the world."
In this rich countryside of Central China industrialization created
an important middle class. On the one hand this class was proud
of its Chinese origin, on the other the strong Chinese identity
and its accompanying self-assertion allowed a spiritual opening
towards non-Chinese cultures quite rare in the rest of China.
Beijing being the political centre of the Middle Kingdom since
the 14th century and Guangzhou the port under pressure from foreign
political and cultural influence, Shanghai seemed to present a
natural equilibrium between Chineseness and openness towards the
outside world. Shanghai's confidence in its being Chinese and
metropolitan at the same time was strong enough to survive Western
colonialism. The economic opening of China and the fact that the
economic weight of the city allowed more and more Shanghai leaders
to the power centre in Beijing, brought the final turnaround for
the city on the Huangpu river. Probably the most decisive factor,
apart from the new economic wealth, was the return of Hongkong
to mainland China. Many Shanghainese who had left their mother-town
at the end of the forties for financial and political reasons,
returned now to try their luck in a city offering new economic
possibilities.
"Bamboo Sprouts After a Spring Shower"
Shanghai's development started therefore quite late, compared
to the economic development along the Chinese coast. The change
of hands in Hongkong seems to have brought the necessary dynamism
and the credits for an upsurge, which has not stopped since its
outset in the middle of the nineties. Within six years the face
of the city has completely changed. Like bamboo sprouts after
a spring shower, high-rise buildings shot out of the ground. Shanghai's
TV tower and the Jin Mao Building are already today the second
and third highest buildings in Asia. The plans to build the Global
Finance Centre were not shattered by the September 11 events.
On completion, the tower will be the highest building in the world.
Other constructions lead into the future, too. The Transrapid,
the maglev train developed by German industry, will be built to
link the new airport in Pudong with the city centre. If successful,
the line will be continued up to Beijing, allowing a travelling
time of around three hours, compared to the sixteen hours by normal
train at the moment. The plans to construct one of the biggest
deep-sea ports will also guarantee that the city will become one
of the world's foremost financial and trading places.
Interesting are also the strong efforts to use culture as a prime
instrument for getting worldwide attention. Obviously Shanghai
does not only try to imitate New York in dubbing its own city
park "Century Park", but also in trying to build up an international
scene for venues of world-famous orchestras, theatre groups or
ballet ensembles. Although prices can easily go up to US$ 150.-,
the tickets of this kind of events are regularly sold out weeks
before the event. The lack of a strong historic past allows this
city an astonishing openness towards other cultural currents,
a characteristic for which the city was known already in the twenties
and thirties. In these cultural efforts the aims and the aspirations
of Shanghai are felt most vividly.
Aim and Aspiration: to Become a World Metropolis
The way to a world metropolis may still be very arduous. Especially
when looking at farther aspirations like the ones to become a
top world finance and trade centre, the opening of China will
have to continue uninterruptedly. What is even more important,
it has to gain in depth. But the clear signs of things under way
cannot be overlooked. There is a Shanghainese society developing,
which strongly resembles the initially mentioned quote by Hawks
Pott from the twenties. It is not Soviet Communism or fascism
in Europe, the main reasons for a strong foreign immigration to
Shanghai in the twenties and thirties, which are the root developments
today. The main reasons for Shanghai's internationalization lie
in the globalization of world economy. Globalization guarantees
not only a steady influx of foreign direct investments, but more
and more an accompanying influx of expatriates of all walks of
life as well. The growing wealth of the town on the Huangpu has
again reached surprising levels, the new middle class is clearly
on an impressive shopping spree- no longer only for refrigerators
and air-conditioners, but for apartments and cars as well. According
to banking circles around 10% of the population of 15 million
inhabitants would clearly fall under a Western heading of a wealthy
middle class today. The ground for a further, solid growth of
the city is therefore prepared and the aspirations may well become
reality in a future not too far away.
6.2.2002
Consulate
General of Switzerland
for business related matters, please reply: sha.vertretung@eda.admin.ch
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